September 7, 1969 is when my
first love began for food & hospitality. It was my 10th birthday and all my
family and neighborhood friends were
waiting for my father to come home so
we could sing happy birthday and dig
into my mother’s Greek cooking. When my father finally arrived he announced that he bought a restaurant, Christy’s, in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania. I had no clue where that town was but it was soon to become my home away from home and my greatest educator in the food and hospitality industry! My father would pick me up after school so I could be at the restaurant for “Supper Time.” Aside from being overwhelmed with new foods and cooking techniques, my parents did not speak nor understand the English language. Even though I spoke English, I had never heard of all the foods on the menu. The only foods I was familiar with was the Hotdoggia (hot dogs), Cheesebourgos (cheeseburgers), & Frenzefries (French fries), I could not even pronounce the foods correctly, the rest was all a chaotic blur. I was only accustomed to eating home cooked Greek food prepared by my amazing mother who loved to cook and feed people. She was the best at Spanakopita and Baklava, but when it came to Cream Pies and Meringue Pies she couldn’t get it right. She had a tough time, but by golly at the end she mastered the recipes and her pies were in the newspaper! At Christy’s every morning they made 25 different varieties of meringue and fruit pies, all from scratch, and they still do today! At 10 years old I wasn’t watching “The Brady Brunch” or “Leave it to Beaver”, instead I was watching my parents struggling to communicate with the servers and cooks. The grill was located out front in the dining room and I watched them put the wrong condiments on the wrong sandwiches because they didn’t read the ticket right, so of course they argued in Greek. I had to jump in, I had to concentrate and learn how to help my parents and how to properly run our new restaurant. I did not want to be embarrassed or laughed at, I was determined to learn. Throughout the years my father became know as “Crazy Bill” and he coined the phrases “How are you pal? How are you dear?” and “Get the money girls!” Some of you may remember my father as he sat in the front of Mama Zoe’s and greeted the guests. He was very ill, but he came everyday until he couldn’t come anymore. He adored his customers and they adored him. I still hear his voice, “Everything ok?...If not...come back and try again tomorrow.” He taught us to love our customers and would say, the restaurant is our family. One more pillar and influence in my life is my godfather, Louis D. Nouno, (Godfather) became a well known restaurateur and entrepreneur, he is an amazing person who has touched many lives — a true role model. I look up to him with all my heart. If you were from Western Pennsylvania, you would have known or seen him on TV advertising: “An You Gonna Like It!” He was the owner of over 40 restaurants (Pappan’s Family Restaurants). I graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, with a BS degree in Business Administration and a degree in Food Service Management. In 1984, I met my soul mate Christakis Zenonos Michael, who grew up in the Mediterranean on the island of Cyprus. We moved to Fort Myers, Florida and together we started creating different foods, characteristics, and a soon-to-be tradition of opening a variety of popular restaurants in Southwest Florida. We opened our first restaurant in 1985, a Greek Restaurant, called Plaka II which is still in business today. Then we opened the Split Rail Restaurant (1986), Zoe’s Southern Grille (1992), Margarita Grille (2000), Cin Cin Mediterranean Bar & Grille (2004), and now Mama Zoe Michael’s (2008). To this day, 45 years later, Christy’s Restaurant, my love, passion and mentor is still serving customers daily. Some of the original staff is still there, working since 1969. The restaurant is currently owned and operated by my brother, Dino Rizos. With the collection of family favorites and food recipes spanning 45 years, we have brought them all together here at Mama Zoe Michael’s. We hope you enjoy and we thank you all for your support, love and patronage of our restaurant!
